"How to Get Rid of a Cob-Webb" (part 1 of the NEW LIFE Trilogy) Author: Hugo "Animal" Chikamori E-mail: hchikamori@yahoo.com Rating: PG-13 Classification: Webb/Other R; Harm/Mac R; Animal/Meg R Spoilers: None, except whatever comes out of Animal's demented mind... Summary: A new lieutenant joins the JAG front office. Webb finds a new 'friend', Animal, Harm, Mac and Chegwidden tolerate Webb's constant visits and try to ignore him. Disclaimers: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., AJ Chegwidden, et al. belong in concept if not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended. My character and one other person who remains nameless are properties of the people involved. So what if it's corny!!! >:) It's our characters so THERE!!! :) Swiped a few good lines from Hades out of "Hercules" the animated movie from Walt Disney, no infringement intended, no money is being made from this story. OK... ENOUGH ALREADY!!! **************************************************************************** JAG HEADQUARTERS FALLS CHURCH, VA 0945 ZULU EST A taxi pulled up beside the JAG headquarters and a young female Navy Lieutenant dressed in service blues got out of the vehicle. "Your name and ID, ma'am." the sergeant at the door asked, his hand hovering near his sidearm. "Lieutenant Sandra Martinez." was the curt reply as the lieutenant gave him a hard look. The sergeant took it in stride and casually scanned the ID. "OK, Ma'am, you're cleared to go in." the sergeant said and then looked down as he saw another officer in utility whites come up the stair- case. "How ya doin', Wilson?" the officer grinned as he looked over at the guard. "Fine, sir, how are you today. Fine weather we're having." the young sergeant grinned at the officer. Lieutenant Martinez looked over at the young officer. He was asian, and wore a big grin on his face. Non- regulation tear-drop grey-lensed Raybans and a cocky look on his face was evident as Lt. Martinez raised her eyebrows. "Great morning..." replied the officer. He had three stripes on his shoulderboards, a commander by the looks of it and at least 8 rows of ribbons. Evidently he had been around quite a bit. Topping it all off was a gold set of naval aviator wings. A tall dark-haired officer in service blues stepped out of the door and then grinned,"Hey, Animal, we've been expecting you." A pretty brunette female Marine Major grinned as she stepped out right behind the tall dark-haired officer. "Hi there, Animal...gee we were starting to figure that you weren't coming to Beltway Burgers with us." The tall dark-haired officer looked over at the female Marine Major with a pleading look,"You aren't going to Beltway Burger's again, are you?" "Of course, Harm, we're going to Beltway Burgers...I'm not a VEG, like you are..." "Oh, thanks a lot, Mac" the officer called Harm replied. Then they noticed Lieutenant Martinez,"You hungry? Lieutenant?" they asked. "Uh, yes, sir...but I do have to report in to a Rear Admiral..." she had a tough time pronouncing his name,"Chegwidden is it?" "Oh, you have to go talk to AJ...Hmmm, not good right now, he's in a real bad mood." Harm replied. "Oh, hell, Harm, he's always in a bad mood." Animal retorted."Don't worry, if you want, we'll wait for you..." "No, sir, that's OK," Lieutenant Martinez replied. "If the admiral is in a bad mood, he'll be in a worse mood if he's kept waiting." "Alright, suit yourself, Lieutenant," Animal grinned,"You're missing a great hamburger...best around these parts." "Oh, god, Mac, you've converted him already." snorted Harm as he looked over at him. "Any more and he'll be doing advertisements for the place. "Well, he won't get any bigger if he doesn't eat his meat and vegetables." teased Mac. "Thanks," Animal said dryly. "Geez, I'm the most senior officer among the three of us and I still don't get any respect around here..." he growled. "Not a chance..." Mac said giving him a pat on the back. ADMIRAL CHEGWIDDEN'S OFFICE JAG HEADQUARTERS FALLS CHURCH, VA 1000 ZULU EST "Ah, Lieutenant Martinez, thank you for coming in so quickly." the admiral said. "You know that you are assigned to this office as the Governmental Liaison officer. Since the Special Assistant to the Undersecretary of State comes here often, you will have the opportunity to develop a working relationship with him, which will expedite matters extremely quickly. Now you have to understand that he has a tendency to like to use our staff on occasion to carry out his duties, so you will have to keep an eye on him." "Yes, sir..." Lieutenant Martinez replied. She was looking forward to this duty station, judging from the three officers that she had met at the front, it would be an interesting post. Beltway Burgers FALLS CHURCH, VA 1025 ZULU EST Harm grinned evilly as he looked over at Animal,"So, how's Meg?" he asked. "Yes, how is she..." Mac asked too, with an equally evil grin. "She's fine considering she's in her 3rd month." Animal sighed as he remembered."Heck, she's fine in the morning, but get home in the afternoon, her mood swings, oy..." "That bad, huh?" Mac grinned looking at Animal's face. He was rubbing his forehead as if to ward off a potential headache. "Well, I got home last evening after a late afternoon hop and she was Attila the Hun." Animal said,"By the way, Harm, you have a Kevlar helmet lying around somewhere. I might need to borrow that..." "Yeah, if she's pregnant, that's gonna do it..." Mac grinned."Better tread lightly for the next few months. We wouldn't want you to end up in traction." Meg's temper was well-known to Harm. Harm didn't want to know what a pregnant and hormonal Meg Austin would be like. He had enough problems dealing with Mac when she was in a good mood. He knew though that Animal would have it pretty bad for the next few months until Meg gave birth. Meg Austin didn't brook any nonsense and she was a tiger. Mac frankly was having a laugh at Animal's expense when he mentioned the situation. TIME: MUCH LATER NAVAL HOSPITAL MORGUE BETHESDA, MA Harm, Mac, Lieutenant Martinez, and Animal were over at the Bethesda Naval Hospital Morgue identifying a body that had been brought to the Navy hospital for identification. "God, I hate these places." Harm muttered. "Hey, what's there to hate..." Animal quipped,"It's a little dark, a little gloomy, and hey, fulla dead people, whattaya expect? A vacation resort?" Mac muttered,"Only he could make jokes at a time like this..." "I'm alive...I'm breathing..." Animal retorted. "And if I see anyone that looks like the TALL MAN, I'm outta here..." Harm muttered. "Do you mind, Animal, Harm, I'm trying to identify a dead body here and you guys are making like Laurel and Hardy." Mac muttered. "Hey," Animal said indignantly,"I'm the one that has to live with a hormonally pregnant weapons-expert psychopath at home...I need some amuse- ment." Harm grinned at him,"Well, maybe we should tell Meg what you called her. Maybe you might need this place's services after she gets through with you." Mac laughed looking at Animal's expression. "On second thought, I'll shut up now..." was Animal's quick response. Upon identification of the dead body, they headed back to the JAG head- quarters to further continue the investigation. ANIMAL & MEG'S APARTMENT 1845 ZULU EST "Meg, I'm home..." Animal yelled as he came in the door. "Oh, hi honey..." Meg replied as she came out from the kitchen. "Better mood today, I see..." Animal gave her a kiss. Meg arched an eyebrow at him,"Don't push it, mister...oh we have company?" She said seeing Harm and Mac. "Yeah, they came out to see our new place and to also finish up some casework." The new lieutenant came in too, she was rather disconcerted at the size of the apartment suite. It was huge. Over 1800 square feet and at Washington real estate prices, would be at least close to $4.5 million. But Animal's wife was rich, having a cattle ranch in Texas would do that for a person. Plus the fact that the land sitting on oil fields would have latent value, skyrocketing it into the billions. Animal's head spun thinking about how rich his in-laws were. "So, dearest, who is this young lieutenant?" Meg asked archly amused that Animal was still dreaming about the fact that he was married and that he had an apartment that was so rich and expansive. 1800 square feet, he revelled. He came back down to earth as Meg gave him a poke. "Do you mind introducing us?" "Oh, This is Lieutenant Sandra Martinez and she's one of the new investigators in the JAG office. Sandra, this is my wife, Meg Austin- Chikamori, she's the architect of this lovely little place." Meg eyed him like beef cattle ready to be turned into beef. He gave Meg a sheepish grin as Meg laughed cheerily. "Oh, yes, before I forget, she's a navy Lieutenant as well, on maternity leave from JAG." He said trying to keep a note of masculine pride out of his voice. "Well, hello, would you care to sit down and I'll make us something to drink." Meg went back into the kitchen. She grinned at Animal's look saying "I know...dear, no alcoholic drinks for me, because of our kid..." Animal grinned slyly,"Hey, and no cigars too...sweetheart" She tossed him an evil look as she went into the kitchen. "You keep your grubby hands offa my cigars..." she drawled from the kitchen. "I know that the doctor ordered me off of tobacco, BUT they're mine once this pregnancy is finished. You don't touch those Cubans, y'hear?" "I DON'T SMOKE!!" Animal said indignantly. Meg leaned out of the kitchen alcove and grinned a loving wife grin at Animal,"GOOD..." she said snidely as she gave him a kiss on the lips. Mac and Harm were watching this banter between the couple and Mac slyly nudged her partner with her shoulder,"Gee, aren't the two of them cute." "Well, you know, I've been thinking, Mac..." he grinned slowly and Mac turned to him with those deep dark brown eyes of hers that he loved so much. "What, out with it, squid." Mac grinned doing that little quirky up- ward twist of her mouth, her mouth that Harm wanted to kiss so badly. "HEY OPEN UP IN THERE!!!!" yelled a voice from the hallway,"ANIMAL!!!" "What the heck?" Animal grumbled as he got up out of his comfy recliner."Just when I was going to get all comfy and watch CNN...THIS BETTER BE A MATTER OF NATIONAL SECURITY!!!!" "As a matter of fact, I am National Security..." said the man with a rather peeved look as he walked into the place..."Geez, is this a home or a housewarming party? This place is enormous. Let me guess, It's Meg's money right?" "You got it..." Animal retorted."So what brings you around these parts, Clay?" "Geez, Animal, you invited me over, right?" Animal twisted his expression into a contemplative one as Clayton Webb snickered. "Oh, yeah...I was wondering...it was that day when my brain wasn't working right..." Animal grumbled. Mac and Harm were making eyes at each other. Animal grinned at the both of them. Clayton Webb went to sit down. There was only two spots left, Meg's comfy spot right beside Animal and the little spot on the couch beside the new Navy lieutenant. Clay knew that if he took Meg's spot, that his life would be in danger, not from her husband Animal, but from Meg herself. So he went over to sit beside the lieutenant. "So, hello, lieutenant." Sandra blushed, the man was handsome, light brown hair combed slightly wildly over his forehead, green eyes, and a killer smile. "Call me Sandra," she managed to get out. "Hi, Sandra, Clayton Webb..." Clay said as he extended a hand in greeting."But call me, Clay, everyone else seems to." Mac and Harm looked at each other. Harm's eyebrows seemed to be raised looking at Clay putting the moves on the young lieutenant. Animal looked dour at Clay. For all he knew, Clay would now be using her on his weird missions. And Animal didn't really care for that happening to a young innocent lieutenant and he was rather peeved. THE NEXT MORNING ANIMAL & MEG'S APARTMENT 0530 ZULU EST Animal woke up to a ringing alarm clock. Luckily for him, Meg only had morning sickness for the first few weeks of her pregnancy and her stomach had seemed to have settled down. He reached over and gave his wife a kiss. "Hmmm..." murmured Meg as she reached a bare arm around and gave him a hug. Their bare skin gave them a tingle of warmth rushing through each other's bodies. "Hey..." "Hey, yourself...Lieutenant?" Animal grinned as he reached down to feel his wife's expanding belly. "Oh, he won't be kicking yet..." Meg grinned. "So when does he start?" Animal whispered. "Usually around 6:30. Then he starts complaining that he's hungry." she giggled,"Must take after you. He's copied your entire feeding cycle." "Oh, thanks a lot..." Animal muttered as he gave his wife a final kiss and headed for the shower. The sound of the shower turning on caused his wife to smile, she got up and headed for the shower as well. Meg thought dreamily that maybe she wasn't that pregnant yet. (imply-imply-imply) Animal dressed in his flight suit and flight gear grinned as he embraced his darling Meg as she dressed in a robe and was toweling her damp hair off. "See ya tonight, lover..." Meg murmured as she embraced him. "So, did you see the looks that Harm and Mac were passing at each other last night?" Animal asked. "Oh, yeah..." Meg grinned,"Why don't they get the picture that they're perfect for each other..." "Yeah, well, by the time, Harm gets it through his head to ask Mac, there'll be snow in Cuba." Animal snickered. "He's pretty slow about it if you ask me." Meg raised her eyebrow,"And you were quick...If I remember, my dear sweet naval aviator husband, if Clay hadn't given you that shove in the right direction, you probably wouldn't have asked me to marry you until hell froze over...not the Hell in the USA, but HELL as in Purgatory?" Animal loved Meg, she always had that quaint turn of a phrase that always caused him to laugh. She was his sunshine and he, well, he didn't know what he was to her, just that she was always happy when he was around. She had that look in her eye as she looked at him in his flight gear. 'god, these naval aviators...first Harm caught my eye, now him...they say navy aviators make the best lovers...' she contemplated as she rubbed her stomach reflectively...'now I got a little one who's probably gonna grow up to be a naval aviator like his daddy.' Animal kissed her and said,"I'd better go before I miss my flight and the CAG's gonna be furious if I do that...I'm his wingie today..." JAG HEADQUARTERS FALLS CHURCH, VA 0830 ZULU EST "Harm?" the question hung in mid-air as Mac looked at Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb Jr. "Did you think that the murder that took place only had one murder weapon? I checked with ballistics and the bullets that went through Captain Lashlund's body entered at two vastly different angles. I don't know, but I have the gut feeling that there are two different shooters." This would complicate the case. Harm muttered,"I knew this murder case wouldn't be a simple one. We don't have any ID on the type of bullets used?" "Standard .22LR (Long Rifle) cartridge. The other slug was a 9mm." the silence was palpable. "Time between shots." "As far as we know from the discoloration of the bullets, the time interval between shots is about 5 seconds apart." "Well, that rules out the single-shooter option, the shooter wouldn't have had time enough to change weapons." Harm replied scratching his head. "You think it's time to bring NIS into the picture, get their forensics experts into the action?" Mac asked. "Yeah, I think so." "It doesn't look so simple now, does it?" Mac grumbled,"There goes my weekend." "There goes mine too." agreed Harm as he sighed. He had been so looking forward to taking 'Sarah', his bi-plane, up on that Saturday. "Sir, we've got reports from the morgue stating that they have the bullet fragments from a third bullet lodged in the left ventricle of the heart."Lieutenant Martinez replied as she brought out a folder that she had received from the chief Mortician at the morgue. Harm nodded as he took the folder from Lt. Martinez and opened it to the page that she had indicated on the folder. "Oh, man, this doesn't look good." "The .22 LR cartridge was fired from an M-16A2, presumeably a converted barrel." Harm read in the file. Mac looked suspicious,"They converted it to a .22LR conversion?" "That's right..." Harm replied, "You can get .22LR ammo anywhere in at the local gunshops. It provides anonymity to the shooter because they can't trace the ammunition. Oh, they can, but it will be difficult to figure out the batch or the shop that it got sold at." "So, we have to check the .22LR conversion kits that any store has sold." "And all the affiliated Colt makes and models. The Match H-Bar, and other rifles that are Colt M-16 copies." Harm said frustrated,"It's not going to be a simple task..." Mac snickered,"Well, we don't intend on going anywhere this weekend. Let's go do some hunting around. C'mon, Lieutenant, we got work to do." she said to Lieutenant Martinez. AT 40,000 FEET FAST EAGLE 212 & 200 JUST OVER NAS KEY WEST'S AIR TO AIR RANGE "So, CAG, what're we doing?" Animal asked the CAG, Thomas Boone. "Well, Commander, we've got a green light for some humping..." CAG grinned as he informed Animal that they were about to engage some A-4F Skyhawks in air-air combat. "Think they'll chicken out like they did last time?" Animal remarked derisively. The VF-127 Bandits were always hassling the Carrier Air Wing 8 guys about coming up and doing some flat-hatting which was not condoned by the CINCNAVAIRLANT (Commander-in-Chief Naval Aviation Atlantic). "Hell, they owe me six drinks for the last six times we plastered their asses over the range." "Well, sir. Here they come, let's make it number 7 for them." Animal retorted as they separated into combat spread. The F-14s merged with the oncoming A-4Fs. The ghost camoflage on the A-4s made it hard to see, but with the eyes that CAG and Animal both had, they made short work of identifying the incoming bandits. "CAG, I'm on bandit number 1." Animal said as he pushed the stick hard left. His Tomcat rolled onto the A-4F's six. "Gotcha, ya little bastard... Hey, Spuds, you're payin' at the O'Club tonight, ya wuss...Fox 2 kill on Bandit number 1 over Key West Range at Alpha two-seven-zero." "Ah, that only winged me..." Spuds, the A-4 pilot retorted as he tried to reverse on the F-14 behind him, but Animal was too quick. "Hey, it's the shocking sequel to Dead Man Walking...Dead Man Flying ..." Animal retorted as he locked the bandit up." Hey, Spuds, when ya gonna get it through your head. WE ARE BETTER THAN YOU!!!" he gloated. "Probably about the same time that we stop seeing training wheels on your F-14s...ya pussy..." was the retort. "Ah, hate to tell you, Spuds, but I think your buddy just got his ass waxed by CAG again. Gee, and he even took less time than last time...You're losing your touch..." Animal taunted as they circled the fight. "Ah, suck mine..." was Spuds' response. "Alright," CAG Boone replied,"So, you guys gonna form up and head back for base? We're low on gas..." "Roger that," was Spuds' reply. "You guys need seeing eye dogs going home?" CAG Boone facetiously asked. "Yeah, right...sir..." They said as they split off and headed for home. "Well, Animal, great job. Let's go home and enjoy our drinks." the CAG allowed himself a moment to gloat. "How to Get Rid of a Cob-Webb" (part 1 of the NEW LIFE Trilogy) Author: Hugo "Animal" Chikamori E-mail: hchikamori@yahoo.com Rating: PG-13 Classification: Webb/Other R; Harm/Mac R; Animal/Meg R Spoilers: None, except whatever comes out of Animal's demented mind... Summary: A new lieutenant joins the JAG front office. Webb finds a new 'friend', Animal, Harm, Mac and Chegwidden tolerate Webb's constant visits and try to ignore him. Disclaimers: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., AJ Chegwidden, et al. belong in concept if not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended. My character and one other person who remains nameless are properties of the people involved. So what if it's corny!!! >:) It's our characters so THERE!!! :) Swiped a few good lines from Hades out of "Hercules" the animated movie from Walt Disney, no infringement intended, no money is being made from this story. OK... ENOUGH ALREADY!!! ************************************************************************ (Part 2/????) [How the hell should I know how many?] JAG HEADQUARTERS FALLS CHURCH, VA MONDAY MORNING (BRIGHT & EARLY) 1445 ZULU UTC - [OK, NOT SO BRIGHT & EARLY] 0845 EST Harm and Mac walked into the JAG HQ as Lieutenant Martinez looked up from her work. "Good morning..." "Hi, Lieutenant," replied Mac as she looked over what Lt. Martinez had found out. The lieutenant replied,"Oh, Ma'am, the county coroner called and stated that he has the full autopsy reports now on the victim. Has anyone notified Capt. Lashlund's next of kin?" "Yes, BuPers has already seen to it." Harm replied to the lieutenant's question. "Now, the funny thing is..." Harm continued motioning both the major and lieutenant into his office and shutting the door."that there seemed to be relatively no motive for this shooting. As far as we know Capt. Lashlund had no enemies. Nobody had a reason to kill him. Mac, see if you can find a history of his postings for the past 15 years. Maybe we can establish a trend of where he's been assigned." "OK..." Mac replied. "Is there anything I can do?" Lieutenant Martinez asked. "Try and call his assignment detailer in Washington and try and ferret out if he has made any unusual requests for his 'orders to report'." Harm's face had a 'I want to get to the bottom of this' look. Lt. Martinez replied,"Yes, sir." she had a few ideas of her own and a few possible leads on this case. She wanted to show that she belonged at JAG and was determined to help in anyway possible. She opened the door and found herself staring at Clayton Webb who was standing by the door." Um...we meet again...Clay..." She said, kind of flummoxed as to why he would be here, just managing to get the words out. It must have been the eyes that did it, or the lips, or the lips...perhaps, she gulped. "Well, Lieutenant Martinez, nice to see you again, but I do have to talk to Rabb about something. I'll stop by and talk to you later..." Webb replied. Rabb looked sourly at Webb as Lieutenant Martinez's eyes lingered on Webb as she walked out. Webb was eyeing her with a curious expression. "Something wrong, Clay." Harm asked snidely as he watched Webb looking over to where Lieutenant Martinez was walking over to her bullpen desk. Evidently Clay had feelings for this young lieutenant. "Nothing that you'd be interested in, Rabb..." Webb shot back. "So, you going to stand there all morning and look pretty or do you actually have something to say to me?" Harm raised an eyebrow at Webb with a look that spoke of how bored he was. "Well, aside from the fact that I want to tell you that you're a moron, There is this pressing case of espionage that I want you to look into." Harm raised a hand to stop Webb from yacking further, "I'm busy." he said shortly."We have a murder case. Shot with an assault rifle with sniper sniper scope at long range." "Well, that's fine and dandy, and this neatly ties into your case." Harm looked up at Webb. "Say, what?" "It ties neatly into your case..." Webb repeated. Harm's response was a less than enthusiastic grunt. When a case- folder with the word CLASSIFIED in red marked on it, was dropped on his desk, Harm was startled. He looked at the tab on the folder, CAPTAIN ERIC LASHLUND. "How...what..." was Harm's first two thoughts voiced as he puzzled through how Webb would have access. An ugly thought went through his mind. "You keep tabs on us?" he sputtered at Webb,"Of all the..." "Hey, don't look at me. The CIA wants to make sure that nothing goes past National Security." Harm gave him a disgusted look,"I guess it's too much to ask..." "We're always suspicious..." Webb replied with a grin,"Just look at X-Files..." "They're FBI." "Same difference..." Webb replied nonchalantly as Harm shot him another disgusted look. "OK...talk..." Harm grumbled as he closed the door behind Webb. NAS OCEANA VIRGINIA BEACH, VA SAME MORNING (what did you think it was?) 1545 ZULU USNO UTC - (Ok, I'm getting technical, this is morning time, not 0845 EST afternoon) Animal growled "Shit, I'm bushed" as he hustled down the corridor in full flight gear, plus NBC gear. It was time for his 6 month check-up flight in nuclear/biological/chemical warfare gear. Flying in an F-14 in regular flight gear was bad enough. Flying when tired was worse and flying in NBC gear was worse than that. Flying in NBC gear while tired was like wrestling a giant octopus in a Turkish steam bath. Damn near impossible. He grumbled. "Well, it could be worse..." his wingman, Lieutenant Phil "Metalman" Burrows replied walking him out to his Tomcat. "They could've scheduled a afternoon hop." "Yeah, must remember to thank the GUY upstairs..." Animal snickered as he attempted to climb the ladder leading up to his F-14. Metalman was going to fly wing with him this morning as they required two aircraft, one doing the checkout and one to keep an eye on the other aircraft for safety reasons. Metalman stood there laughing as he watched Animal scramble up to the cock- pit. "What's so funny? Asshole." Animal snarled as he got himself settled into his Tomcat's cockpit as his RIO came out equally dressed funny in NBC gear. Metalman didn't bother responding to that. Lieutenant Commander Michael or Mick "Scooter" Doerksen grumbled as equally loudly about how f'ing stupid it was to have to do this every six months. Lieutenant Commander Jeff "Skateratz" House grinned at Metalman and said,"Geez, this is fun to watch." "Be happy, funny guy..." Scooter snarled back,"It's your turn next week..." Scooter waddled over and started climbing the ladder."Hey, don't touch the ejection loops, got it?" Animal snickered at him. He looked like a tortoise dressed in the sage-green rubbery NBC suit and over-helmet. "Ah, FUCK OFF..." snarled Scooter. He evidently was not in a good mood as he settled himself into the back seat, needing help from the ground crew to strap himself in, as Animal had. Metalman and Skateratz headed for their F-14. As the canopy came closed, Animal radioed the tower,"Departure control, Fast Eagle 101, November Bravo Charlie training flight, requesting VFR departure clearance, runway 5R." Animal listened to the response, and eased the throttle forward as he taxied the F-14 to the runway. He was starting to have sweat pouring in rivulets down his body. This was not good. And he had the airflow on full. This was going to be one long flight. Animal hated these NBC gear flights and longed to finish up the flight quickly. He heard Metalman request taxi clearance for his departure as he lined up just behind Animal's F-14. The impudent squirt threw in a chattering teeth effect just for good measure... "I...I...I...hate...early...morning...d...d...d...departures....I... i...it's cccccold." Metalman grinned waving a thumbs up as Animal looked over at his canopy while lined up on the runway side-by-side. "Ah shut up...I'm hotter than hell in here..." Animal snarled. Metal- man just knew exactly what to do to be completely irritating. If there was one thing Harm wouldn't miss about naval aviation, it was these damned NBC gear flights. 'Lucky guy', Animal thought as he thrust the throttle forward and the dual GE F110-400s gave him an enormous shove in the rear as the F-14 blurred forward. Metalman's F-14 paced him as the two aircraft blurred down the runway and lifted into the morning sky. As they hit 500 feet, they cranked their F-14s into a shallow bank heading for the Atlantic Ocean, where they would be conducting their flight maneuvers. Pointing the nose at a 60 degree angle, Animal thrust the throttle to Zone 3 afterburner. The Tomcat shot forward and straight up, blurring past Mach One as they went feet wet (over water). JAG HEADQUARTERS FALLS CHURCH, VA 1848 ZULU UTC 1148 EST Harm puzzled over the facts that Webb had left him. He knew that Capt. Lashlund was a former naval aviator who flew the F/A-18s in the VFA-105 Gun- slingers, who were currently on deployment with the USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN-71). But what would cause Captain Lashlund to be killed? Was he fencing information? What would it be that would cause him to be eliminated if it was a contract killing? He had to consult with Animal on this one since he was stationed in NAS Oceana. Picking up the phone on the desk, he dialed the Black Aces' front office. A very attractive sounding female voice came from the front desk. "Hello?" "This is Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb Jr., I'm looking for Commander Chikamori? Is he in?" "No, I'm sorry, Commander Chikamori is unavailable at this time. He's on flight operations." the female voice said brightly causing a wince from Harm as he thought about how nice it would be to fly again. How he missed the feel of the stick and throttle under his hands. "Alright. If you can pass a message to him to let him know that I called. Need to consult with him on something. It's urgent so can you make sure that he gets it when he gets back." Harm asked. Mac had not yet returned from her fact finding mission. All three of them would have to go down to the base to figure out what was going on. At a phone somewhere in Virginia A tall man, speaking in a foreign language.. 1148 EST <""Kard-ast?">[is the deed done?] the voice on the other end of the phone asked. <"Bale.">[yes] the man replied,<""Nemitavanim ejaze dade an miravad nebaste.">[we could not let that loose end go untied.] <"Darid ettela'?"> [you have the information?] the voice asked, <"Banabar'in dur amade-im baraye ba'es. Age un nedastim, tarahom bud."> [We have come so far for the cause, it would be pitiful if it was not in our hands] <"Darim khabar.."> [the information is in our hands] was the man's brief response,<" Amrika'ia nemidanand chi ettfagh ofte ast hanuz.."> [The Americans do not know what has happened yet.] <"Kheili khob."> [Very good...] the voice said.<"Baz begard fouran. Sayeye shoma kam nashe"> [you will return at once...-farewell-] The man replied, "Khoda hafez shoma" and signed off. JAG HEADQUARTERS FALLS CHURCH, VA 1935 ZULU UTC 1235 EST Harm's phone rang on his desk, startling Harm out of his reverie while he was looking at the F-14 model that was on his shelf. He had a plaque on the wall indicating his status as a VF-33 Tarsiers, SEAHAWK Centurion. That meant that he had landed 100 'green' 3-wires onboard the USS Seahawk. In the course of three deployments he had been awarded a 300 tab which told the story that he had accumulated a total of 345 carrier landings, including 3 that he had done in the course of his duties as a JAG investigative legal counsel. "Hey..." Animal's voice on the other end of the phone brought him back from his pondering of the wall. "Hi, Animal..." Harm said,"I needed to come down and talk to you about this case that I'm working on..." he paused there a minute, his silence conveying to Animal that Harm was reluctant to talk about this over the phone. "Sure, no problem. If it's anything I can help you with..." Animal replied. "Yeah, you might." Harm said,"I'm going to contact Mac and see if she and Sandy can meet you down at Oceana and then I'll be on my way too." "OK." Animal's response was brief as they intuitively sensed each other's reluctance to speak further over an unsecured line. NAS OCEANA VIRGINIA BEACH, VA 2245 ZULU UTC 1545 EST "Geez, I wish I could help you out." Animal responded to Harm and Mac's query. "The only thing that I can tell you is to go talk to Commander Mick Connelly. He's one of the F/A-18 drivers and he might be able to tell you a lot more about the aircraft than I could. I'm a Tomcat driver." Animal said. Harm nodded. He understood Animal's reluctance to talk, but he needed answers. If the only thing that he could do was refer him to another pilot, he would have to take that source of information. Most of the Hornet's systems were declassified recently, however a few items like the radar components and the ECM were still highly classified and you couldn't even whisper anything about it or you might end up locked away for the rest of your determinable existence. Mac looked over at Harm,"Well, it looks like the captain had a pretty high level clearance. Just think of what he could have done with the info at his fingertips." Harm and Mac looked at each other instantly knowing what the other was thinking. Animal looked over at the two,"So, what you're telling me...is that Lashlund decided to sell out?" "It's a hunch, Animal." Mac replied, looking over worriedly at the lieutenant and at Animal. Lieutenant Martinez's look was equally dis- concerting. "OK, let's go talk to Irish." Animal said as he got up up from behind his desk. All 3 navy officers were dressed in khakis while Mac wore her khaki shirt and class "A" green pants. Lieutenant Sandra Martinez donned a pair of sunglasses as the four of them stepped into the bright afternoon sun. VFA-83 Rampagers SQUADRON READY-ROOM HANGAR 200 NAS OCEANA VIRGINIA BEACH, VA 2300 ZULU UTC 1600 EST Commander Mick "Irish" Donnelly looked over at the five officers. "Hey, you know, that I'd love to tell you, but this is really secure stuff..." Harm pulled out his JAG ID,"Commander, we need the information, I've got a Level 9 classification, so does my partner. We've probably got higher classification than you have, with all due respect so mushrooming this isn't going to make the problem go away." Animal muttered to Sandy,"I've only got Level 4 so, I think I'm going to leave now..." Lieutenant Martinez whispered back,"I've got level 7, so this info isn't too classified for me." she whispered. "OK, I'll see you..." Animal said as he got up, explaining that if the classification was too high, he would have to depart the room." There were no detractions from that and Animal took his leave from the rest of the room. AT A CORNER 1/2 BLOCK FROM ANIMAL'S HOME. A rather tall sandy brown haired man looked over with binoculars at the rather expensive condominium building that Animal lived in. The man's hair was closely cropped to his head. He flicked open his cellular phone and dialed a number. The sound of the receiver being picked up and a male voice answered. "Is it done yet?" "Yep, the place is rigged." "Now, I don't want anything to happen to them, I just want them running scared." "They will be..." was the ominous threat. The man nodded as he sat in his car. "Well..." he continued,"this fellow is a friend of the guy who got me a one way ticket to the nut-house. I just want him to know that I'm coming after him next." JAG HEADQUARTERS FALLS CHURCH, VA 0400 ZULU UTC 2000 EST "So, our hunch gets proven correctly," Harm stated firmly looking over at Mac and at Lieutenant Martinez,"Lashlund was floating information to a non-secure source. Some of that electronics on the F/A-18 is very highly classified information." "We've even got the paper-trail to confirm that." Lieutenant Martinez looked up at Harm holding up a stack of deposit receipt copies and a balance record. Mac raised an eyebrow with a look over at Harm as if to say,'lookie, we got ourselves a bloodhound of an assistant.' "Good work, Sandra..." Harm said, as Sandy passed over the information. "Thank you, sir." "Animal helped us, even though he didn't know it..." Mac grinned."Well, I'm starved, how about you two?" "Famished," grinned Sandra. "Completely," finished Harm. "OK, anyone for Beltway Burgers..." Mac said reaching for her jacket. Harm groaned while Lieutenant Martinez's eyes lit up. Not another meat-eater, Harm grumbled. "Well, maybe they have a good salad." he acquiesced as he reached for his own jacket. ANIMAL'S APARTMENT 0400 ZULU UTC 2000 EST Animal and Meg opened the door to their luxurious apartment as they headed in to put their things away. After he had cleared everything on his desk at work, he had headed for the NIS to pick up his wife. Animal looked over at the kitchen counter when he heard a sudden gasp from his wife. "Meg, what's wrong, honey." Animal said concerned, looking over at his wife who wore a horrified look on her face. He looked over at the kitchen table to where she was pointing. There was a dead red rose on a piece of paper. Animal reached over to look at it. Meg uttered,"Don't touch it..." She was visibly shaking. "I won't." Animal said using a pen to shove the rose over. The move- ment of the rose brought some handwriting on the note into view. The note read, "WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE." Animal dropped the pen. Someone had been in the apartment."Meg..." Animal looked over at his wife,"C'mon." Meg looked at her husband. Animal had a look about him that spoke trouble. His lips were tightly pursed and he clenched his right fist in a tight grip. They both headed for the door. Animal knew what he was going after. "What are you going to do?" Meg asked worriedly. She didn't see her husband enraged like this very often. "I'm going to find the bastard who did this." Animal growled as he looked over at his pretty blonde wife. No-one would upset his wife, especially during her pregnancy, especially making death threats like this, and get away alive. Meg was scared, doubly worried that not only was the sacred sanctity of their home violated, but the fact that her husband was just about ready to do something really, really stupid. Reaching their vehicle, Animal did a thorough check to see that every- thing on his vehicle was alright, then he stuck his key in the door-lock. He reached in and grabbed a lever on the bottom of the driver's seat of his BMW. (Meg's gift to him for his 32nd birthday), and grabbed his M92FS Beretta. Sticking it into his G-1 flight jacket pocket, he told Meg to get into the car. "Where are we going?" Meg asked. "Back to the base. I have to talk to the base commander, about detaching a squad of Marines. I want that place wired shut." Animal said, looking over at Meg."Hon, I want you to make sure that you take a Marine body-guard with you to work tomorrow. Better yet, don't go to work to- morrow." "Aren't you sure, you aren't blowing this out of proportion? Honey?" Meg asked."For all we know..." "Meg..." Animal looked at her, reaching under her chin to raise her lips up to his. "Look, I know this sounds funny, but I have a hunch that this has something to do with why Harm and Mac came down to the base today." He didn't mention this gut feeling of his to Meg. There was no need to get her needlessly worried. "I want you to stay with Lieutenant Commander Foley and his wife on base for the next three weeks." Animal said, as he gave his beautiful Meg a kiss. "What?" Meg said. "Hon, I know who this guy is, I recognized his handwriting. He's a dangerous psychopath." Animal said,"Look, Meg, sweetheart, I love you. I don't want anything happening to you." "And, I don't want anything happening to you, too, hon, so don't do anything stupid, OK?" Meg said, her eyes brimming. "You promise me that, y'hear?" They drove in silence for several long moments. His Meg was strong, but at times like these, it was very traumatic. Animal pulled out his cell, dialing a number. A voice picked up,"Hey..." "Hey, yourself, Harm." Animal said,"Just wanted to warn you, that nut- case is on the loose." "He is?" Harm's voice instantly betrayed his fear." Thanks, I'm going to tell Mac, she's here with me and Sandy. What about Meg?" His concern for his friend's wife was apparent. He had still not forgotten his love for Meg but he knew that Meg was in good hands with Animal, that Animal loved Meg and would gladly give his life to protect her. "I've got a place for her..." Animal said and left it at that. "OK..." Harm replied. NAS OCEANA BASE OFFICER'S HOUSING LIEUTENANT COMMANDER FOLEY'S FAMILY QUARTERS. 0500 ZULU UTC 2100 EST A knock on the door got Lieutenant Commander Stephen Foley out of his comfy recliner. He got up to open the door and found his commanding officer on the other side accompanied by his wife who looked pale and frightened. He couldn't read the expression that was on the commander's face except that it was cold, with a edge of steely anger lying just underneath it. "Sir?" Commander Foley looked at his CO. "Steve, I've got a favor to ask of you." Animal said as he gestured to his wife. "I just received a death threat today. Since Meg is pregnant, I wanted her safe from harm, so I brought her over. Could she stay with you." "By all means, Commander, bring her in." Lieutenant Commander Foley said, gesturing the both of them in. NAS OCEANA MARINE BARRACKS UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS LIEUTENANT COLONEL KEN FUJITA'S QUARTERS. 0525 ZULU UTC 2125 EST A ringing phone on the table beside the TV awoke Lieutenant Colonel Kenji Fujita, USMC from a nice little snooze in his comfy recliner. 'goddamn' was his only thought as he picked up the phone,"Lieutenant Colonel Fujita, here..." he barked. Lieutenant Colonel Fujita was big for a Japanese-American, at 6'3" and 275 pounds, he looked like a Samoan football player, but was purebred Japanese-American 4th generation. "Wake-up..." was the voice on the other end of the phone. "Animal, you lousy...mud-crawling asshole..." was LCol. Fujita's response. "Well, Jarhead. I've got a big request to ask of you." "Name it..." Animal and Fujita had gone through basic training and ROTC together. They knew each other, trusted each other and had served to- gether in the Gulf. "I want to temporarily detach a squad of Marines. I want Meg under guard 24 hours a day." "What?" LCol Fujita was stunned. 'what a request! Animal certainly didn't skimp when it came to requests'"I don't know...what for?" "Death threat." Animal responded. That was all that LCol. Fujita could get out of him. "OK, you got it. I'm going to detach two squads, one to look over the place you call home and one to protect Meg." Fujita replied."You want me to send in a sweeper team?" Sweeper, unlike in CIA terms, was a bomb squad, who would go in and check for any unexploded bombs. "Really do appreciate that..." Animal responded. "You're gonna owe me into the next millenium, you know that?" Fujita barked, laughing. "Yeah..." was Animal's response. NAS OCEANA BASE OFFICER'S HOUSING LIEUTENANT COMMANDER FOLEY'S FAMILY QUARTERS. 0600 ZULU UTC 2200 EST "Hey, Meg, honey..." Meg hung tightly to him as she kissed him. Animal embraced her. "Look don't you go all gung-ho, on me, now you hear?" Meg said,"I want our little guy to have a daddy." Animal grinned at her. They separated and Animal got back into his car. She waved at him as he engaged the drive on the car and pulled out of the parking space. His anger at the creep who did the deed back at the apartment did not wane. As the house disappeared in the distance, Animal gripped his semi-automatic Beretta and pursed his lips grimly thinking,'You just pissed off the wrong guy. I'll get you, Palmer, if that's the last thing I ever do." ******to be continued****** The Arabic translation was provided thanks to Miki Seiler. A thousand thank-you's, Miki. "How to Get Rid of a Cob-Webb" (part 1 of the NEW LIFE Trilogy) Author: Hugo "Animal" Chikamori E-mail: hchikamori@yahoo.com Rating: PG-13 Classification: Webb/Other R; Harm/Mac R; Animal/Meg R Spoilers: None, except whatever comes out of Animal's demented mind... Summary: A new lieutenant joins the JAG front office. Webb finds a new 'friend', Animal, Harm, Mac and Chegwidden tolerate Webb's constant visits and try to ignore him. Disclaimers: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., AJ Chegwidden, et al. belong in concept if not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended. My character and one other person who remains nameless are properties of the people involved. So what if it's corny!!! >:) It's our characters so THERE!!! :) Swiped a few good lines from Hades out of "Hercules" the animated movie from Walt Disney, no infringement intended, no money is being made from this story. OK... ENOUGH ALREADY!!! ************************************************************************ (Part 3/????) [How the hell should I know how many?] Harm's apartment 0415 ZULU UTC 2015 EST Harm had just gotten off the phone with Animal when he heard Mac ask questioningly,"What happened?" "Palmer..." was Harm's only response. "What?" Mac shuddered as they remembered what Palmer was like,"What happened?" "He went after Animal and Meg." was Harm's grim response. There was a dead silence as both contemplated what would more than likely happen. Animal was probably biting off more than he could chew. Palmer was un- predictable and extremely dangerous. Dock Pier 10 0715 ZULU UTC 2315 EST Animal stood waiting grimly as he fingered his Beretta's grip. He knew that psychopath Palmer would be tracking him. It was just trying to provide an attractive enough opportunity to strike that would bring Palmer out in the open. He was contemplating this when he heard a voice. "Ah, Commander Chikamori, how pleasant it is to see you." The voice belied the friendliness of the statement. It was a voice of a man who had no compunctions about killing someone. "Nice to see you too, Palmer." Animal said as he slowly turned around. Looking directly into Palmer's eyes, his own narrowed to dangerous slits. "Well, you seem rather upset about something." Palmer said quietly as he looked over at him. "The rose was a nice touch..." Animal growled, looking at him with venom. "You got my wife scared. That's why I'm not happy. Palmer." Animal calmly. "Well, you know that you weren't keeping your nose out of business that wasn't yours to tamper with? It involves federal security." Palmer said, "and well, we needed to get a message out to you that told you how serious the situation is." Animal looked at him with a cold stare,"I don't remember you being in the federal service anymore, Palmer. So talk, you've got my full attention." The dock was cold as Animal scanned the area behind him and around Palmer. Palmer knew the commander in front of him, he had read the dossier and he also knew that Commander Chikamori was lethal in hand to hand combat. He was standing at least 10 feet away from the commander and hoping not to arouse his attention with the little hand gestures that he was making to his back-up. The commander did not seem to notice. "Well, I'd like to but that information is classified." Palmer said smiling a sick looking grin that informed Animal of the fact that Palmer was completely nuts. Animal's hands were behind his back subtly slipping out the Beretta that he had pulled out from the back of his pants. Pulling it to the front, as Palmer just realized that Animal had the drop on him, Animal tracked him with the Beretta. Palmer swore to himself as the muzzle of the semi-auto was aimed directly at his head. There wasn't time to even pull out his Glock 19. "ALRIGHT!!!" Animal snapped out."I KNOW YOU BROUGHT BACKUP. STEP OUT INTO THE LIGHT NOW!!!!" "You can't kill me, Commander, in cold blood, because you'll end up with a Murder 1 charge." Palmer said. Palmer swore to himself. Just as he thought Animal was the typical military cement-head, the commander pulled another surprise. "Nothing's stopping me from seriously hurting you, Palmer. And that I can do with my bare hands." Palmer's backup stepped out from behind the pile of crates armed with a Browning .45. Animal tracked him and Palmer made his move. The taser hit Animal with an electrical jolt and Animal dropped to the ground conscious but unable to move. "It's a pity, Commander, that you didn't didn't do a complete job in finding out about me, because you'd then know I always have a backup plan." Animal could feel nothing except the tingling in his joints from the electrical shock that he had received from the taser. He motioned to the two men to load him into a van. As the two men carried off the navy commander, Palmer picked up the dropped Beretta and looked at it. 'Nice conversation piece, once we finish using the commander for our own devices.' Pulling out a radio he said,"Don't kill the commander, I can use him to bait Rabb and MacKenzie." JAG HEADQUARTERS FALLS CHURCH, VA 1645 ZULU UTC 0845 EST The desk phone rang on Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb Jr's desk as he and Mac were going over certain bits of evidence from the investigation. "Rabb here..." Harm said as he picked up the phone and answered it. "How nice to hear you..." the cold familiar voice said,"I want to talk to you and MacKenzie." "Palmer..." growled Harmon Rabb..."Why you son of a-" "uh-uh...Commander...I've got Commander Chikamori here with me...Would you like to speak with him. But first of all we have some things to dis- cuss." Harm could hear a muffled voice in the background. A voice of some- one muffled with a gag. "See, I'm not telling you a lie, am I?" the voice chuckled as if what he was saying was funny. "Let him go, Palmer..." Harm said."He has nothing to do with this..." Palmer chuckled again, a sinister sound,"On the contrary, Commander Rabb, he has a lot to do with this. You will turn over the investigation reports to me." "I can't do that..." Harm said. "THEN HE DIES!!!!" Palmer yelled, all pretenses gone. "OK, Look, I want to talk to the Commander." Rabb said, as Mac listen- ed, looking horrified. What sounded like a gag being removed and shoved away from the mouth ensued. As the commander's gag was removed, he yelled out,"DON'T, COMMANDER IT'S A TRAP. DON'T DO IT, THAT'S A DIRECT ORDER!!!!" He managed to get that out before Harm heard a loud slap and a groan. Then Palmer was back on the phone,"Pier 10 Norfolk Quay, Be there with the files or the Commander get it." then there was a dial tone. "Mac, we gotta do this. I'm not going to let my friend die because ..." Harm paused gritting his teeth,"Because I didn't do anything." Mac nodded slowly. She knew how much friendship meant to Harm. Animal had asked Harm to be best man at his and Meg's wedding and they had come through flight school together along with Keeter. They called each other the THREE MUSKETEERS or the THREE FLYING AMIGOS. "Sir?" Bud was at the door."Lieutenant Austin-Chikamori here to see you." Meg was accompanied by a big burly Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant in camoflage fatigues. "Harm, do you know what's going on? My husband went to see someone and he hasn't been seen since." Meg asked. Mac looked at her sympathetic- ally. This wasn't going to be easy for him to tell his friend's wife what happened. "Sit down, Lieutenant." Mac said, as she motioned her to a chair. "Meg..." Harm said, not wanting to tell his friend's wife that a psychotic ex-federal agent had kidnapped her husband, but it seemed as if she already knew. Meg's eyes had filled. "Is there anything you can do?" She asked, trying to remain strong but how much more stress she could take was unsure,"Who is it, that has him?" She knew. Harm didn't know how, but she knew. "I know..." Meg said,"Because, he's my husband. I love him. Just like you love Mac. I know instinctively when he's alright or when he needs help." Mac blushed pink upon hearing that. Women, how did they learn how to read minds? Did marriage do that to them? Or were they telepathically inclined to begin with. The possi- bilities boggled Harm's mind. "I know who has my husband, that psychopath who trashed our apartment last night." Meg said. Meg had it dead on the nose. "Yes, Meg...it's Palmer." Somehow she knew; whether it was wife's instinct or what, he didn't know, but Meg knew exactly what was going on even before he said it. Was it a bond that they shared? Was it something that he and Mac shared as well, or would share if they decided to take the next step in their friendship? Meg sighed, frustrated more than anything. She was furious. But she couldn't blame Harm or Mac. It wasn't their fault that her husband was now in Palmer's hands. Harm gritted his teeth. Meg must be devastated but she was maintain- ing a stoic expression. Harm thought to himself,"Clark Palmer, you are a dead man..." The phone on the table rang again. Harm picked it up again. "Rabb here." "Well, Commander, glad you haven't left yet. Wouldn't want you to miss the time that you were supposed to drop off those files." Palmer's voice said. "Mac, trace the call..." Harm whispered to Mac holding the telephone's mic end. "Uh, no, I wouldn't do that..." Palmer said,"If I were you I wouldn't trace the call...How nice it is to see that you, Major Mackenzie and your friend's wife are with you." Harm got this really sneaking suspicion. "HIT THE GROUND!!!!" Harm yelled as he forced Mac and Meg down on the ground. The Marine accompanying Meg hit the ground as well as one of the windows had a hole nicely and neatly blown through it. The bullet had expended it's momentum in the oak trim of the wall. Harm thought to himself that he was going to really have to do something about the windows in his office as he looked over at Meg and Mac. His friend's wife was panting softly, half in fear and half in anger as she fixated her blue eyes at Harm and growled,"I want this Palmer...I want him dead." Harm could only look at her and at Mac as he nodded. "Oh, gee, he missed," Palmer's voice was essaying from the receiver. "O945 tomorrow morning...Bring the files and the commander is yours...Bring the feds and the commander dies." -click- dialtone. Harm, Mac and Meg looked at each other. Warehouse near Docking Pier 10 1945 ZULU UTC 1145 EST SLAPP!!!! The sound of open hand meeting flesh was loud in the relatively empty warehouse. "Tell me what you know!!!! Commander!!!! I'm getting sick and tired of asking." "Hugo Haruo Chikamori, callsign Animal, rank Commander, 954-59-9448/ 1310" "Save your breath, and tell me what you know, Commander," Palmer yelled as he clenched a fist and belted Animal across the face again. A rivulet of blood trickled down the corner of Animal's mouth as Animal gave Palmer another glare. This was one more thing that Animal was going to owe Clark Palmer, a 5-knuckled sandwich. "Hugo Haruo Chikamori, callsign Animal, rank Commander..." Palmer, frustrated, levelled a devastating right cross that connected with Animal's chin and lifted Animal out of his chair, breaking one of the legs of the chair and bringing Animal crashing to the floor and the blessed blackness of unconsciousness. "Take him back to the cage and stuff him in..." Palmer grated as he looked with disgust over at the bleeding commander. As he came to, several hours later, in the cage that Palmer had placed him, Animal kept thinking about Meg and what she was going through. The cage was no more than 4 feet by 5 feet. Just large enough for Animal to fit into it...uncomfortably. Animal felt his jaw. It felt loose, but there was no shifting of the jaw to indicate anything broken. 'Good thing, I was a good little boy and ate all my fish.' he thought wryly to himself as he shifted to get a better fit. He instantly regretted that, because shifting brought a new chorus of pains from his abused shoulder and kneecaps. How much longer was it going to be before Clark Palmer, ex-DSD agent, and now rogue spy, would get tired of this interrogation bit and cap him. It was only a matter of time. 'God, Meg, how I miss you...' was the recurring thought that went through his mind. Most people would have broken under the torture that Palmer had put him through, however, Palmer had underestimated Animal's resilience to pain. JAG HEADQUARTERS FALLS CHURCH, VA 2025 ZULU UTC 1225 EST Lieutenant Commander Phil "Metalman" Burrows barged through the door. "I need to talk to Lieutenant Commander Rabb..." he said urgently. "What's the matter, Commander." Harm replied as he looked over at Animal's old school friend and squadron-mate. "I need to know what happened to Animal?" Lieutenant Martinez looked over at Meg who was still in shock, but that shock was turning to anger. Meg got up and went over to Metalman. "Phil, this is going to be hard to take, but..." Meg swallowed hard trying to keep that lump in her throat from taking over. "Animal's been captured by a traitor to the United States Government." "What?" Metalman looked mean, his lips were pursed in a glare that could melt steel. "Then what the hell are we doing? Why are we sitting on our asses here." LCdr Burrows growled,"For all we know, Animal might end up with a bullet through his skull for all we're doing to help him." Lieutenant Martinez got up,"Sir, I know that we don't appear to be doing anything to help him but we've got to find out what is really going on. If we don't do the necessary preliminary recon, we're going to get creamed going in." Metalman growled,"I prefer 'negotiating' with the barrel end of a loaded 9 mil...with me holding it." Meg said, as she glared at Harm,"Me too...so, what are we waiting for?" "Meg, but you're pregnant..." Metalman said. "Yeah so? What's your point?" "You know, I don't know if it's a good point or a bad one, but you're starting to sound like him." Metalman growled at Meg. "Well, I should begin to sound like him, I live with him, cook for him, spend quality time with him and have you-know-what with him, so I should end up behaving like him..." retorted Meg as she pulled out a black Beretta 92 Centurion, aimed it at Harm's wall and sighted it, pulled out a loaded clip and slammed the clip home into the butt of the 9mm. She grinned,"So, what are we waiting for? Christmas?" Mac, Harm and Sandra looked at each other,"Did she used to be like this when you were partners?" asked Mac with a questioning look on her face. "I can't remember." Harm said as Meg shot him a threatening glare. Meg slipped her 9mm into a belt-concealed carry holster as Harm and Mac slipped their 9mm's into their pockets with their clips in their jackets. "How about you?" Mac asked Sandra. "Well, I always believe in safety first..." Mac's, Harm's, Meg's and Metalman's jaws all dropped open in unison as Sandy pulled out a .50 Magnum Desert Eagle with a 14" barrel. Sandy grinned sheepishly,"Well, I got it at a garage sale, sir" The rest of them groaned. "Have you ever fired one before?" asked Metalman skeptically. "No, sir...but I do learn quickly..." Mac rolled her eyes, Meg groaned, Harm sighed, and Metalman did a quick Hail-Mary. The door to the JAG office opened again and they all looked up. "Some one told me that Palmer was on the loose again..." The familiar face of a certain Special Assistant to the Undersecretary of State looked out at them from the doorway. "Clay...how ya doin'." Metalman said, clapping him on the back,"Where ya bin, man, we bin lookin' all over for ya." he said imitating a homeboy from the hood. "Jus hangin'?" Clayton Webb looked curiously over at Metalman who had a Smith & Wesson Model 4506, with a combat-blued frame. "Smith & Wesson, they make good guns..." was Metalman's comment. "I'll stick with my Sig, thanks..." Clay said as he looked over at Sandy who grinned at him as he gave her a good once-over with his eyes. His jaw did drop as he looked at the weapon that she was holding in her hand. "Uh? Any particular reason why you're carrying that CANNON around?" "It blows big holes..." Metalman quipped. Clay's return look was priceless. 1/3 part surprise, 1/3 part scorn, and a 1/3 part pedanticism. "Are you sure that she'll remain standing after firing that weapon." Clay asked. Sandy looked a little peeved at Clay. "Oh, yes, Mr. Webb, I think I can..." she retorted."Now, we'd better stop the chin-wagging, with all due respect, sirs, ma'am, before we find out that Commander Chikamori has been executed by Palmer." Warehouse near Docking Pier 10 2325 ZULU UTC 1525 EST "Commander, why don't you save me the trouble of having to beat the information out of you?" Palmer looked over at Animal with malice in his eyes. Animal looked like hell. He had been worked over very well by the goons on Palmer's payroll. "Why the hell should I tell you anything?" Animal spat, wincing pain- fully as he felt shooting stabs of pain run down his side. It didn't seem like anything was broken however, the ropes tying him into the chair had long since worn away at the skin beneath them and were biting into the skin, leaving it chafed and bleeding. Animal didn't have a mirror, but he pre- sumed his face wasn't looking much better. A new figure walked into the lighted area. He had a foreign look to his face. Animal had never seen him before. He spoke with a Russian tinged accent. "You are very arrogant for an American..." he said."You are a commander, are you not?" "You already got my name, callsign, rank and social security number, so if you want to go open up a bank account, go ahead." Animal snarled. "I want to know what the Americans know about Captain Lashlund." the Russian said. This tall blonde haired man was wearing a suit, and he looked rather distinguished, even though he was not in august company at the moment. "Don't know who the hell he is..." Animal spat out, which was true. "I don't know...and one more thing..." Animal said as he looked deeply into the Russian's gaze. "What is it, Commander, you can tell me." "Move a little closer...I don't want Palmer to hear me." Animal whispered. The Russian moved closer and leaned in. Animal spat on the Russian, "Go to hell, you motherless PIG." Animal didn't flinch as he received another beating. The Russian, furious pulled out his Makarov, and pointed it at him. It was a tense second as the Russian took his Makarov and put it to Animal's head. A thin bead of sweat trickled down his neck as the Russian pulled the trigger... JUST OUTSIDE THE PIER... 2328 ZULU UTC 1528 EST Harm, Mac and Sandy piled out of the car as the Navy 4 door sedan pulled up to the pier. Harm and the rest pulled their weapons, arming them as they headed towards the pier, just as Metalman, Meg and Clay pulled up just behind them. "I'll take point with Mac, Sandy; you go with Clay." "I'll go with Meg..." Metalman said, as he jacked back the slide on his Smith & Wesson. They set off at a run for Docking Pier 10. WAREHOUSE NEAR DOCKING PIER 10 2328 ZULU UTC 1528 EST *CLICK* - the hammer slammed back on an empty chamber as the Russian laughed raucously as Animal finally flinched. "No, Commander, you do not think that we will let you off that easily, now...do you not?" "How to Get Rid of a Cob-Webb" (part 1 of the NEW LIFE Trilogy) Author: Hugo "Animal" Chikamori E-mail: hchikamori@yahoo.com Rating: PG-13 Classification: Webb/Other R; Harm/Mac R; Animal/Meg R Spoilers: None, except whatever comes out of Animal's demented mind... Summary: A new lieutenant joins the JAG front office. Webb finds a new 'friend', Animal, Harm, Mac and Chegwidden tolerate Webb's constant visits and try to ignore him. Disclaimers: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., AJ Chegwidden, et al. belong in concept if not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended. My character and one other person who remains nameless are properties of the people involved. So what if it's corny!!! >:) It's our characters so THERE!!! :) Swiped a few good lines from Hades out of "Hercules" the animated movie from Walt Disney, no infringement intended, no money is being made from this story. OK... ENOUGH ALREADY!!! ************************************************************************ (Part 4/????) [How the hell should I know how many?] WAREHOUSE NEAR DOCKING PIER 10 2328 ZULU UTC 1528 EST "Why don't you kill me and get it over with..." snarled Animal who received a slap in the face for the effort expended. "No, we will not do that. If we kill you," the Russian said looking at Animal," We do not get the information that we so need." "You won't get the information 'you need' even if you keep me alive... " Animal snarled,"So, why don't you get it over with?" "Oh, life for you will not be that easy." Palmer said. "Just that I am about to drop an anonymous file into your e-mail system that is a top secret file that I heisted from the DSD before I left. Now, Commander, it's going into your e-mail-box, implicating you with espionage for the Russian KGB. You're going to end up in Leavenworth, facing a capital charge for treason." "Like I'm worried..." Animal spat out. Nothing else could go wrong that day. "You had better be...because I just forwarded the contents to the CIA." Yep, it just got worse. Palmer grinned sadistically. "Now, do we get the information that we need or does Ivan here, have to pound it out of you? Because we so hate to do that. It'll mess up your nice face..." "Go ahead, scumbag..." Animal growled."Give it your best shot..." WAREHOUSE NEAR DOCKING PIER 10 2330 ZULU UTC 1530 EST Metalman growled at Meg,"Stay down..." "I'm just checking to see what's going on." Meg hissed back. Metalman yanked her down and growled,"If you get a bullet through your pretty little head, your husband is going to kill me...so when I give you a command you obey it...damnit!!!" Just as angry, Meg snapped him a look, but she knew that Metalman was just as worried about his friend as she was worried about her husband. Animal meant something to both of them. Meg snarled,"Yes, sir..." as sarcastically as she could and jacked back the slide on her Beretta. "Cover me..." Metalman gave her a sharp look that indicated to Meg that she listen. "I'm going to hustle around that vehicle and see what's going on." He dropped the magazine of his automatic into his palm to check and make sure that the rounds were there. Jamming it back in, he slid the slide back to chamber a round. "God, I love double action..." he muttered as he scurried around the vehicle. Meg mumbled a prayer as she kept the sentry in sight. 'Please, God, keep my husband alive until I can get to him.' WAREHOUSE NEAR DOCKING PIER 10 2332 ZULU UTC 1532 EST This was a dangerous situation, but Lieutenant Martinez felt a thrill go through her, as she tucked herself behind a car watching the situation. Webb sat beside her, taking quick peeks around the headlights of the car, "I don't see anything..." Webb said,"This doesn't look good." "Well, right now, Mr. Webb, I think they're giving the commander a going-over. How much time do you think he has?" "With Palmer, I don't know..." Webb said, giving Sandy a look that made her fear the worst case situation for the commander."He's completely unpredictable. A loose cannon, really..." "Didn't the DSD do a complete psychological profile when they re- cruited him?" was Sandy's question that hit the mark. "20/20 hindsight is great, isn't it?" Webb said as he gazed at Sandy impassively. "The DSD needed his skills at interrogation. They forewent the usual battery of psychological tests and recruited him. They found out later that he was irreparably psychotic. By then it was too late..." "That's just great, Webb..." Sandy was infuriated,"We're dealing with a homicidal maniac. We go busting through that door; this Palmer is liable to put a bullet through Commander Chikamori's head. Oh, this is great." "You don't know Commander Chikamori, either..." Webb said...grinning. "You don't know that Japanese-American Devil-Dog, like I do. Right now, the commander is thinking thirty ways of getting out of there, like we're thinking about busting him out." "Well, I hope so..." Sandy growled, but she couldn't stay mad at Webb. WAREHOUSE NEAR DOCKING PIER 10 2340 ZULU UTC 1540 EST Harm and Mac quickly moved up on the sentry..."Quiet...flyboy..." Mac hissed..."You sound like a herd of elephants. By this time, a regiment of drunken Russians could hear you coming..." "Stay back..." Mac whispered to Harm as she gave him a quick kiss. " For good luck, flyboy...I'm going to take out this sentry." By this time the sentry was getting bored and starting to pace. This was good. The atten- tion span of this sentry was getting lax. "Good luck...Major..." Harm grinned at her..."I'll be right behind you." "Marines lead the way..." Mac smirked at Harm. Mac stealthily crept up behind the sentry and with a quick movement, broke his neck. The sentry slumped to the ground without a sound. Motioning all of them forward, they headed for the door. WAREHOUSE NEAR DOCKING PIER 10 2345 ZULU UTC 1545 EST Animal was tied up in a chair in the center of the room. The ropes constricting his hands were tight, but gradually, Animal was loosening them. Palmer was fiddling around with the computer shuffling files into Animal's directory and generally making a mess of things for Animal. The Glock 19 on Palmer's table was within his easy reach. Animal thought, 'Would it be worth it to take a bullet if it meant being able to take out Palmer?' he mulled over the question in his mind as he went to work on the ropes again as Palmer's attention was turned else- where. Palmer looked over at the Russian,"Yuri..." "What is it, Mr. Palmer..." the Russian growled, he was perturbed by the American Naval commander that was tied on the chair and his apparent recalcitrance to talk. "You will stay here and guard the commander, I have to step out..." the rogue DSD operative said. Palmer had felt this danger impulse and he knew something was going down, but he wasn't about to stick around to find out what was going to happen. "Yes, we will meet later..." the Russian said. Palmer turned and left. Animal gazed venomously at the Russian named Yuri. 'Just wait till I get my hands on you...' Animal thought. Not more than ten minutes after Palmer had left, Animal felt the first loosening of the cords. He hid the movement from the Russian. The Russian was nervous. Yuri said,"I know your kind, commander, stubborn, strong-willed." Animal glared at him, his eyes, obsidian, and unfeeling, like a snake wait- ing to strike. The Russian was un-nerved. He had to fill in the silence with words. Animal bided his time, waiting for the right time to strike. WAREHOUSE NEAR DOCKING PIER 10 2350 ZULU UTC 1550 EST Mac saw Palmer leave. "Let him go..." Harm said,"At least we know that Animal is still in there..." "Whether he is still alive, we don't know..." Meg said as she looked over at Harm and Mac. Her stomach was in knots. Meg thought. 'I have to know what happened to my husband.' Mac said,"OK, on the count of three, we're going in." Mac lined up and said, "Harm, you do the honors of taking out the door. "One-two-three ..." The door was booted open as the six rolled into the room. WAREHOUSE NEAR DOCKING PIER 10 2351.30 ZULU UTC 1551.30 EST The door flew open as six figures jumped into the room. Animal's eyes adjusted as he gazed upon them. Yuri had gotten to his feet, just as Animal dropped all pretenses of being restrained, leaping to his feet and launching a devastating attack on Yuri. Yuri tried aiming his Makarov, but found it kicked out of his hand and before he knew it, Animal had snapped his wrist and broken his arm and Yuri was now bleeding as bone stuck out of his elbow joint. Mac marvelled at how lightning fast Animal had moved. Just as she had gotten the sights of her Beretta aligned with the Russian's head, Animal had dropped the rope and had unleashed a devastating two-point attack on the Russian's wrist and elbow joints which had crippled the Russian's gun hand. By the time her mind had registered the movement, the Russian was being slammed into the wall and a finishing move was being delivered on the Russian's neck by means of a hard shuto chop to the carotid artery, effectively knocking the Russian into unconsciousness. "Well, geez, looks like you didn't even need the cavalry." Metalman quipped as he looked over at Animal. "Gee, you know you look like hell." "Thanks..." Animal said weakly...but his gaze fell upon the most important person in his life. A blonde lieutenant who stood there looking at him with tears in her eyes, holding a Beretta which dangled from her fingertips. She dropped the weapon and came forward into a tight embrace..."Oh, god..." She whispered as she embraced him. "don't ever do that again." she said as she kissed him. The incongruousness of the tall lieutenant in the short commander's arms was blotted out by the tenderness in each other's eyes as husband and wife embraced. Meg looked at her husband's face. He was bruised and a trickle of dried blood lined the corner of his face. There were numerous cuts and scrapes as the fists and fingernails of Palmer had met with Animal's face. "You look like hell, Commander..." Clayton Webb said. "Yeah, my face couldn't resist hitting Palmer's hand. Good thing he took off while he had the means to." Animal quipped and hissed painfully as Meg embraced him. His ribs had taken a beating. Mac had tied the Russian up and was using her cell-phone to notify the Marine security on the Washington Naval Yard to come pick the Russian up. "So, I guess, we won't be going out to eat tonight, with my face the way it is..." Animal joked weakly, leaning on his taller wife who looked at him with tenderness. "Take-out sounds good..." Meg whispered to him. Animal kissed her. "Uh, folks..." Webb said,"Palmer has a vendetta now against all of you and he won't be waiting to carry it out. I suggest you all huddle to- gether for the next while. He'll try something again." "Palmer said, that he did something to my files implicating me on an espionage charge." Animal said. "Don't worry about it." Webb said, looking over at Sandy,"I took care of that. Palmer tried to access on a bogus code. Security alerted me the second he tried gaining access." "Great...that means my career isn't going down the toilet on account of that bastard." Animal growled. "I owe you...Webb..." "You owe me...more than you think..." Webb riposted with a grin. He rarely ever grinned and Sandy thought he looked terrific that way. "Hey, why don't you and Meg stay over at my apartment..." Harm said as he looked over at Mac "You too, Mac...if Palmer is gunning for us, we stand a better chance with being together than if we go it alone." "Sandy..." Clayton Webb said firmly..." I want you to stay with Harm and the rest of them too. If Clark Palmer knows that you are working with them, he'll come after you too. I'll drop by with some Chinese food to- night. If Palmer tries something, he'll get one hell of a rude surprise..." he grinned again. "Hey, don't grin so much..." Mac joked,"People will start thinking that you actually have feelings..." Webb looked at her sourly. "But what about you?" Lieutenant Martinez thought to ask Clay."Clay, aren't you going end up being targetted by Palmer too?" "Yeah, but I'm legally allowed to carry a concealed gun. Oh, and we won't mention that you all were carrying concealed which is a federal offense by the way..." Webb said. "I'll just choose to ignore that..." he shot a warning look at Harm. "Just don't speed on the way back to your place." "People are wrong about you..." Lieutenant Martinez said as she gave Clay a hug. Webb was now completely confused. The seven of them exited the building and headed for their vehicles. Clay pulled out a small device and started running the devices over their cars. A little light gleamed green on the face. "What is that for?" Lieutenant Sandy Martinez asked. "It's so that we make sure that Palmer hasn't left any nasty good-bye presents." Clay said,"Look, Sandy, I'll drop you off at JAG with the rest of the crew. I'll come by around 8:00 PM tonight. OK?" "Alright..." Sandy beamed, frankly Webb was starting to relax around her. "You just be careful..." She replied,"I want you making that 8:00 dinner date..." "How to Get Rid of a Cob-Webb" (part 1 of the NEW LIFE Trilogy) Author: Hugo "Animal" Chikamori E-mail: hchikamori@yahoo.com Rating: PG-13 Classification: Webb/Other R; Harm/Mac R; Animal/Meg R Spoilers: None, except whatever comes out of Animal's demented mind... Summary: A new lieutenant joins the JAG front office. Webb finds a new 'friend', Animal, Harm, Mac and Chegwidden tolerate Webb's constant visits and try to ignore him. Disclaimers: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., AJ Chegwidden, et al. belong in concept if not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended. My character and one other person who remains nameless are properties of the people involved. So what if it's corny!!! >:) It's our characters so THERE!!! :) Swiped a few good lines from Hades out of "Hercules" the animated movie from Walt Disney, no infringement intended, no money is being made from this story. OK... ENOUGH ALREADY!!! ************************************************************************ (Part 5/????) [How the hell should I know how many?] Back at Harm's Apartment 0151.30 ZULU UTC 1751.30 EST "OUCH!!!" Animal hissed as Meg tenderly dabbed away some of the caked blood and tried to clean up Animal's bruised face somewhat. "Cripes, that hurts." "C'mon, honey, don't be a baby about it..." Meg murmured sweetly as she caressed the top of his head."We have to clean these cuts up before they become infected..." "I hate iodine." grumbled Animal as he submitted to his wife's minist- rations as she dabbed each cut with the bacteria killing iodine. Mac and Sandy looked over at Animal to see how well Meg was coming along with cleaning her husband up. "Remind me never to hit my face on someone's fist again." Animal look- ed over sourly at Mac's amused look. "So, do you think, he'll try again..." Sandy said, referring to Palmer. "I don't know, Lieutenant..." Mac said, but she kept her sidearm by her side. Metalman sourly looked out the window as he ran his fingers through his light brown hair, "The things you do..." Metalman growled,"Animal, you have to be the dumbest..." "Hey...Look who's talking...Who was the guy that rammed that MiG over Tsushima strait? Huh?" "Well, that was war-time..." growled Metalman. "You have to expect that sort of thing in the line of duty." "Yeah, one more F-14 and you'll be a RUSSIAN Ace!" retorted Animal. "Quit squirming..." Meg admonished. "How do you expect me to clean your face if you keep moving around." "I'm not moving..." complained Animal,"Geez, married life is..." he stopped watching Meg's expression. "Don't even think of completing that sentence, Commander..." Meg growl- ed. Harm chuckled,"You may be a three-striper, Animal, but at home, Meg's got you hog-tied..." "Shut up...Harm." Meg snapped."Sometimes, my husband doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut...either. Don't encourage him." Mac giggled. That repartee was just too funny to her. Harm shot her a 'what do you think is funny, Major' look. She tried to stifle it, not very successfully. A vehicle just south of Harm's Apartment 0351.30 ZULU UTC 1951.30 EST "Look, I want them. Rabb has gotten too far into this venture of ours I want him silenced." "What about his partner?" came the expectant question."And those meddling fly-boys, and the broad from the NCIS?" "Kill them too. Also follow Webb...actually don't, I want to do the honors. Now that they're together, they'll die together." Harm's Apartment 0425.25 ZULU UTC 2025.25 EST The phone rang on the night table. Animal had finished loading Harm's spare Beretta. He had lost his own issued weapon when Palmer had zapped him with the taser. Harm picked up the phone," Rabb here," "Hi, is the Commander here?" it was a female voice. "Yes, who is this." "Lieutenant Commander Kimberly Benton, Commander Chikamori's XO. We were wondering where the Commander was. He's been missing for several days now." was the female voice's reply. "We're coming over right now." "We're...?" was Harm's questioning reply. "Hang on a second, I'll put the commander on." Animal picked up the proffered receiver,"Hello? Kimber?" "Commander, where are you?" "At a safe house..." "I know where you are...sir, I'm getting Maverick, Scooter, and Merlin together..." "Lieutenant Commander, It's too dangerous..." Animal said,"We've got problems here...just don't do anything..." "Sir, we're coming over. I don't know what's going on, but we're going to cover you, sir..." "Commander..." Animal said warningly, but all he got was a dialtone. "damn..." He swore,"I'm gone two days, and my entire squadron starts dis- obeying my commands, and just for your information, Harm, you disobeyed a direct order too." "Oh stuff it...sir..." Harm returned snidely,"We got you out..." "Yeah, yeah..." Animal acquiesced as he sighed." I guess I'm going to be owing favors, left and right..." Harm saw an opportunity there that he couldn't resist, "Hey, if you're owing favors, what's the chance that I can get up for a couple of hours in that beautiful Tomcat of yours?" Harm grinned, as he looked over at Animal. Animal had the only "D" Tom that the VF-41 squadron had. It was the commander's bird and it was babied. Animal looked sourly over at Harm,"Don't push it...Lieutenant Commander..." Animal was possessive of that aircraft. Meg said to him,"Honey, you do owe him...your life..." "Uh...eergh...aaargh...oh...all right...2 hours...not one second longer...and if you prang it, GOD HELP YOU!!!" Animal growled. "YESSS!!!" Harm grinned as he looked over at Metalman who was staring in shock. Mac was grinning. If Harm knew of a way to weasel a chance to fly a Tomcat, he would take it. Sandy just looked confused. "Am I stuck with a group of aviators?" she said looking at Animal's flight-jacket, Harm's wings, and Metalman's khakis which had his pair of gold wings above them. "Hey...what about me?" Metalman said,"I'm still stuck with my old "A", say, is there a chance..." "NO!!!" was the definitive answer accompanied by a glare from Animal. "Has anyone seen Webb?" Mac asked once she had stopped laughing. "No..." Sandy said as she looked out the window..." He said that he would be here at eight." Just around the corner 0435 ZULU UTC 2035 EST "Damn, I'm late..." muttered Clayton Webb as he came around the corner and nearly smacked into a military jeep with 7 people in it. They all were in black flightsuits and were carrying heavy weapons, M-16A2s from the looks of it. He nearly dropped his travel-mug on the floor of his vehicle. Screeching to a halt just around the next corner, he looked over at the vehicle as he got out, making sure that they weren't Palmer's cronies. When all of a sudden, a truncheon reached out and smacked him on the side of the head. "Pity you don't watch yourself all that well..." the figure said to the unconscious CIA agent, snorting derisively as he pulled on a flesh mask that when put on resembled the agent now lying slumbering on the ground. "Hmmm, can't go around that way, now can I?" the figure said as he walked around to the back, seeing an open window, he reached in opening it wider. Gaining entry, he ran smack-dab into a man who was in the midst of saying "Who the hell..." when Palmer struck him, hard in the neck. The man flopped to the floor incapacitated. Pulling out his Glock 19, he headed through the man's living room and gaining access to the hallway, he headed Rabb's apartment. Passing by a mirror in the living room, he looked at his mask. 'Good, I look, like Webb...' he thought as he proceeded towards accomplishing his goal. Stepping off the elevator at Rabb's apartment, he headed to the door. Harm's Apartment A knock sounded on the door. Harm got up,"That must be Webb...Geez, he's almost an hour late..." He opened the door, Webb stood there holding a Glock 19. Not his usual weapon. "Hi, Rabb..." was the sinister sound that came from Webb. "PALMER!!!" Harm said as Webb stuck his weapon in Harm's stomach. "What the hell do you want, Palmer..." Rabb said, not budging one inch. "Just for you to die..." Palmer said as he pulled the trigger. Then chaos ensued. Shots were exchanged as everyone reached for their weapons. Finally a single shot, caused a gurgle and there was a thud as a body hit the floor. The real Webb stood behind Palmer as the rogue DSD agent slid to the ground, expiring as he hit the floor. "You know it's not nice to hit people over the head..." Clayton Webb remarked as he held his smoking Sig-Sauer P228. Harm got up after diving to the ground. The bullet left a bloody trail on his side as it grazed his waist. "Where the hell were you, Webb?" Harm asked irately as he looked over from the dead Palmer, to the Special Assistant to the Undersecretary of State who was standing over the DSD agent's body. "I was asleep." Webb growled."That bastard hit me in the head." Sandy got up and went over to him,"Are you hurt?" "Just a headache and a nice little bruise. It's probably going to grow into a lump by tomorrow." Webb muttered. "So, how are you going to explain this?" Sandy asked indicating the dead Palmer. "It's relatively simple, Sandy, The guy went for a gun and tried to fire on a federal agent. I shot him in self-defense. Besides, by tomorrow this thing will be so far shoved under wraps, that they won't be able to find it again." He paused for a minute,"I'll make sure that its shoved under wraps." "This thing is far from over though." Webb continued as he paced around Harm's apartment."His cronies are in possession of state secrets that this creep has been fencing for the past year and a half. That's a hell of a lot of state-secrets." he paused,"But I think we have the answer..." "And what's that?...Webb." Animal said glowering darkly at the CIA agent. "We need to find their mode of transportation." Webb continued as quite a few jaws dropped in shock."Rumor has it that these guys are being funded by militia groups and Hussein. They over-ran a Portuguese freighter and killed the crew. The ship just disappeared off the registry. They run their spies in through that way." Webb looked at Animal who turned around and looked over at Metalman. "Oh, no...Webb..." Animal growled,"You're not bringing us into it...Go ask the CIA to do your dirty work." "We thought about getting the SEALs to destroy the ship, but we figured that the highest profile attack on this ship, would cause the terror- ist groups to rethink their strategy. We need to sink this ship." "I need your support, Animal..." Webb said. "Your squadron has the skills and the weaponry needed to put a strike force on this ship and sink it. It'll send a message to the terrorists that we have ways of finding out what they're doing." Animal looked over at his wife, at Mac and Harm, at Sandy. As his gaze played out over all of them, they all looked to him to make the decision which could put an end to this strong part of the terrorist's link- ed chain. He sighed as he put his hand in Meg's, who turned and squeezed his palm with hers. "I guess I'm not going to be able to square up with you un- less I get six of my guys to bomb the living crap out of that Portuguese freighter, huh?" Webb grinned,"That's the general idea." Animal let out a breath, he had to accept those terms. Webb had done his part to save his life and he owed him. Harm grinned at Mac again,"Hey, Animal..." "What..." growled Animal. "Say, if it isn't asking too much..." Animal shot him another warning look. Harm ignored it. "I was wondering if I might be able to fly that mission with you." "You're pushing my limits, you know that, Rabb! OK, Harm, if Cheg- widden will clear you...you're at Oceana first thing tomorrow morning...0430 hours. Don't sleep in or we'll leave without you." " grumbled Animal,"Al- right...Webb, you get me the location, the info on how many of those terror- ists are there, and I'll make sure that we bomb the living shit out of that freighter before it reaches international waters. Are you sure that it is going to sail tomorrow?" "Yes..." Webb replied. Animal glared at him. "MAKE SURE!!!" he growled."I want an up to the minute briefing on the mission on my desk at 0430 hours tomorrow morning." "You got it." Webb said. "Listen, Webb, I want to know what the hell is going on that ship. I don't want to roll in on that ship and have my drivers getting Grails shoved up their asses. So, you tell me exactly what defensive measures that freighter has. I don't want NASTY surprises. Nasty surprises do not make my day happy. Nasty surprises get me pissed off. And you know what I'm like when I get pissed off, Webb..." Animal growled ominously. "yeah, you got it." Webb said,"Is he always like this?" he asked Meg. "Don't ask me, I'm just his wife..." Meg replied cheerily. Animal looked over at Metalman and at Harm,"We're going to be carrying 4 Mk 84 GBU-10s LANTIRN. We'll take turns dropping. I'll take lead shot, Maverick will paint...then Maverick will drop, I'll paint. You come in at 090 degrees, drop a pair on the bridge." Animal indicated to Harm as he set a stick of butter on the counter to indicate the freighter. "Ice will paint your target. Metalman and Kimber will drop in pairs...each one painting for the other. If we drop 24 GBU-10s on that freighter, it's going to be headin' for Davy Jone's locker. No prob." Mac was looking at Sandy and at Meg, they all shrugged their shoulders. It was going completely over their heads. "Your egress is 270 degrees." Animal told Harm,"You don't linger, you don't bother saying goodbye...adios...you select zone 2 and get your ass out of there...you become a dot...I don't want to explain to Chegwidden why his prize attorney became a glowing cloud of grease...if you get hit by a SAM." "Roger that, Animal." "Just remember, Harm, this is for real...this ain't TOP GUN." Animal said,"I've been up there, I've shot down MiGs for real...it's completely different. And even though we're movin' mud...flyin' strike...I don't want anyone who hasn't got their shit together." Metalman growled,"Just remember Harm, you got five other guys out there hangin' their asses out. Make sure your Sierra Alpha is at high-ping ..." Harm replied,"Gotcha..." he gave the typical Navy aviator's thumbs-up sign to tell them that he was ready; that he wouldn't screw up, or screw the pooch. "Any triple-A you see, you fly evasive..." Animal said,"I don't want any un-necessary work for the maintenance crews. Our roll-in is at Angels 15. Keep your anti-smash on. We don't want any loving nudges..." Animal looked over at Harm again,"Bingo field is Key-West." "What's our fuel status for this mission?" Harm asked. "3 to splash." Animal said. That meant three hours of flying time before the aircraft fell out of the sky, due to lack of fuel (splash). "Make sure you take a combat dump...Harm," Metalman grinned,"I don't want to walk behind you if you fill your zoomie-bag." "Shut up...Metalman." Harm growled. Animal shook his head. Metalman could never keep serious for more than a couple minutes at a time. In the meantime, the CIA agents had been by and had taken away Palmer's carcass to the CIA morgue. Whatever things had been broken had been picked up and put away. Sandy sighed as she sat down. Webb was still hanging around, making a few telephone calls to make sure that the infor- mation was on it's way to Oceana for the morning. "Well, let's get some shut-eye..." Animal said,"We got an early morning." Mac agreed as she grabbed Harm's spare sleeping bag from the closet. "Have we eaten?" was the question from Webb. "Oh damn, I knew we forgot something..." Harm's voice was heard to exclaim. Mac, Meg and Sandy laughed. "Anybody got a box of crackers?" Animal complained. "Only croutons." Harm replied; Animal groaned. A knock on the door was heard. Harm opened the door. Lieutenant Commander Kimberly Benton, Maverick, Merlin, Scooter, Skateratz, Iceman and Slider stood there with Chinese food, and M-16A2s in their hands. "AH...We're saved..." Metalman said reaching for the bags. Harm looked around his apartment. "Well, grab a chair and make your- selves comfortable...You can lean your weapons in the closet there, and well, Are you guys sticking around?" "May as well?" LCDR Benton replied. "Lucky thing..." Animal said,"We can go over the plan again..." Later "Meg, are you asleep?" Animal asked cuddling next to his wife. "Hmmm, nope..." Was Meg's sleepy reply next to him."Too much excite- ment." She snuggled in beside him. "So, how's the baby holding up?" "Seems to be ok...He's squirming...as usual." Animal smiled in the darkness. "Will the two of you shut up and go to sleep..." growled Metalman from the floor and was promptly elbowed by Maverick, who had ended up getting kicked by Metalman's left foot when Metalman frustratedly growled at Animal and Meg. "Hey...shut up...Metalman..." growled Iceman, Slider, Skateratz and Merlin. Mac, Sandy and Kimberly Benton had taken Harm's bedroom as they were all single, so Harm had to sleep out there with the rest of them. Animal and Meg ended up on the pull-out sofa-bed. "Geez, remind me never to invite you six over..." Harm groaned as he rolled over on the floor, barking his elbow against the sanded white pine- floor. "Ouch!!! Not you, Meg, Animal...but those six clowns..." Meg giggled as Animal reached under Meg's neck with his arm and cuddled her... They fell asleep...Animal fell asleep with his arms wrapped lovingly around his wife. "HEY..." Metalman, Harm, Iceman, Slider and Skateratz said irately... "QUIT SNORING!!!!" Maverick and Merlin growled. "Will you all shut up and get some sleep!!!" was Webb's complaint as rolled over and stuck his head under his jacket that he was using for a pillow. "We all have an early morning tomor..." "SHUT UP...WEBB!!!" came Mac's irate voice from the bedroom. "But I didn't say..." Webb said to no-one in particular "SHUT UP...WEBB!!!!" came Kimber's voice from the bedroom, equally irate. "What did I do?" Webb complained. "SHUT UP...WEBB!!!!!!" Sandy's voice came from the bedroom, as equally irate if not more so. "OK, ok...Geez..." Webb said,"Try to keep things..." The entire group yelled at him. "SHUT UP!!! WEBB!!!!" Webb shut up. "How to Get Rid of a Cob-Webb" (part 1 of the NEW LIFE Trilogy) Author: Hugo "Animal" Chikamori E-mail: hchikamori@yahoo.com Rating: PG-13 Classification: Webb/Other R; Harm/Mac R; Animal/Meg R Spoilers: None, except whatever comes out of Animal's demented mind... Summary: A new lieutenant joins the JAG front office. Webb finds a new 'friend', Animal, Harm, Mac and Chegwidden tolerate Webb's constant visits and try to ignore him. Disclaimers: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., AJ Chegwidden, et al. belong in concept if not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended. My character and one other person who remains nameless are properties of the people involved. So what if it's corny!!! >:) It's our characters so THERE!!! :) Swiped a few good lines from Hades out of "Hercules" the animated movie from Walt Disney, no infringement intended, no money is being made from this story. OK... ENOUGH ALREADY!!! ************************************************************************ Author's note: Reference to JAG; the NOVEL, (Part 6/6) [Yeah, yeah...OK, I finally figured it out...] Harm's Apartment (early morning) 0730 ZULU UTC 0230 EST The alarm clock rang, all too early..."ARRRGGHHH!!!!" groaned Animal as he rolled out of his bed and hit the floor. "Yeowch!!!" He heard a sleepy "Good morning, are you ok?" as Meg peered out over the edge of the pull-out sofa-bed. "I think so..." Animal groaned. Seeing the perfect opportunity as he had hit the ground near Metalman, he got up and gave Metalman a kick in the side with his bare foot. "OWWW!!!!" was Metalman's complaint."Mom, it's not morning yet...can I go back to sleep?" "No, you slug!!!" Animal growled...leaning over him."It's wakey wakey, rise and shine..." "mOM?" Metalman blearily said as he opened one eye,"You're not Mom..." "No kidding..." Animal growled ominously. "You're too ugly to be mom..." Metalman said matter-of-fact-ly and rolled over and went back to sleep. Animal got an evil grin on his face. Walking over to Harm who seemed to be the only other person awake, asides from himself and Meg, Animal whispered in Harm's ear. "pssst. hey...you have any Motley Crue CD's?" "Hmmm, yeah..." Harm grinned as he replied,"I did go through a heavy metal stage at one time in my life..." "I've got the perfect idea." Animal whispered the idea in Harm's ear. "great idea..." Walking over to the stereo system, Harm shuffled through a bunch of CD covers and said,"AH...here it is..." Meg was restraining herself from laugh- ing at her husband and at Harm. Animal maneuvered the speakers strategically over to where the coma- tose group of fighter pilots and RIOs were sleeping. He also placed one right next to the bedroom door, where the three women were still asleep. "Sound check?" Harm asked. "Roger that...Speakers strategically placed...Sound level?" "At 10." "Roger...engage..." Animal gave the order as Meg giggled. Those two were mean. The loud raucous clash of heavy metal guitar filled the room at a high sound level which caused screams of pain from suddenly awakened pilots. A high pitched shriek came from the bedroom where Mac suddenly appeared with a pillow."OK!!! Who the hell..." "Wakey, wakey..." Animal growled just before Mac propelled the pillow in his general direction. He got an eyefull of nightgown before the pillow hit him in the face. "GOOD MORNING!!!!" yelled Harm who grinned evilly as the pilots got up looking none too happy at being so unceremoniously woken up. "VF-41 and JAG!" trying to do an imitation of Adrian Cronauer's morning greeting to the Viet Nam veterans. "Aw...shutup!!!" was Iceman's growl as he staggered over to the bath- room sink behind the glass cube divider. There was a knock on the door. Slider answered the door, it was a neighbor looking none too pleased about being woken up. He spoke in a prissy sounding voice. "Young man, I am trying to catch my sleep and I have to go to work early in the morning...I don't relish being woken up in this fashion. If this happens one more time, I will have to call the police..." Slider laughed, an evil sounding laugh as he looked at the consider- ably shorter man who was balding around the center and stood there blinking like an owl in daylight. "We..." his voice came out in a raspy growl,"We... woke you up?" he coughed, a rumble, coming from his throat. He snorted in laughter..."Say, buddy, what do you do for a living?" "I'm an accountant..." the shorter man said sounding proud of his very fine occupation. "I'm a CPA." "Well...goody for you..." Slider growled,"It just so happens that we defend your opportunity to make money...You've just been woken by people who serve their country...And we have an important mission to fly today...so tough shit...if you got woken up...C'ya..." He shut the door in the man's face. "Who's that asshole?" Slider asked Harm. "Oh, that's Henderson, the local yuppie..." Harm said,"Don't mind him. He's always continuously looking out the door whenever Mac or Bud come over. I think he'll be thinking twice about coming over now..." NAS OCEANA VF-41 Squadron Headquarters 0930 ZULU UTC 0430 EST "Morning...did we all get enough sleep?" Animal asked facetiously as he looked out over at the faces that were assembled in the ready-room. Grumbles and groans were the only responses. Harm was paired with a VF-41 RIO by the name of Lieutenant Joe "Tag" Price. Kimber's RIO, Jamie "Snort" Pallen, was hanging out there looking none too happy about being woken up to prep for a hop at this ungodly hour in the morning. "We're flying deep strike, because we're the only ones who can do the deed. We're each going to be carrying 4 GBU-10s, with a LANTIRN pod on your 1B pylon. We'll have 2 'Winders and a SLAMMER just in case we meet up with some hostile aircover. I don't expect any, but just in case, I don't want to get caught with my pants down around my ankles." Animal growled. "Webb, what's the scoop?" Animal turned to Webb. "Well, we've got news that those guys do have Grails stocked in, so just make sure that you guys have enough clearance." Webb replied," Also the guys have managed to get three 5 inchers and 16 20mm anti-aircraft emplace- ments along the center-line of the ship." "Things aren't lookin' good..." Animal said morosely. "Webb...that really makes my day, you know?" "Well, Animal, you wanted the scoop, you got it..." "Doesn't mean I'm happy about it..." Animal retorted. "Any questions?" he turned to his crews. "Do we get hazard pay for this?" asked Slider. "ha, ha...ask the CIA..." Animal replied, looking at Webb. "Don't look at me, Animal, I don't work for the CIA..." Webb replied. "Yeah, right..." was Animal's sarcastic rejoinder as he picked up his flight helmet bag, and headed for the tarmac. Harm got a surge of nostalgia as he walked out with his RIO to the waiting F-14 Tomcats. It had been many years since he had actually gone for a combat mission and he missed the rush of adrenaline pumping through his body. From too many years as a lawyer, he had lost the easy stride and relaxed gait of a fighter pilot. As a lawyer, he had to hurry and not be late for court appearances, but a pilot had that easy-going stride, that spoke volumes. Pilots were generally loose, and they didn't give a damn about who the heck wanted their attention really quickly. They got there when they got there. Fighter jocks never hurried. To them it was uncool. Harm watched his friend, Animal, seeing his lazy grin, gathering Meg up in his arms and giving her a kiss. "Hmmm, Hey, you..." Meg replied as she kissed Animal back,"You be care- ful, OK?" "You know me...careful is my middle name..." Animal replied, giving her another kiss. "Oh?" Mac was there too, looking over at Harm with a quizzical expression. He walked over, "So...Mac...Looks like I gotta combat mission..." "You just be careful, flyboy..." Mac's expression was one of content- ment as she looked him over. Harm in his flight-gear, to Mac, was one of the military's finest specimens of male humanity. Mac said,"You don't come back with holes in your Tomcat like you did the last time..." Harm grinned, as he remembered the last time. It was when an F/A-18 had gone down in the middle of a hostile island covered with guerillas and they had to go in under heavy fire to rescue the downed aviator. Mac and Harm had both been investigating a murder that time, but the CAG had specifically requested him to fly an F-14 because of the fact that he had flight experience and they were short crews. He still remembered what he had told the CAG,"But what does this have to do with me, I'm a JAG officer..." and had told him what the situation was for his being taken off flight-status. The CAG had admonished him,"Does it look like night out there to you, Commander?" Animal was looking over at Harm with a wry grin,"So, you gonna stand there looking at Mac all morning or are we gonna fly that mission?" Harm thought, 'aw, what the heck,' leaned over and gave Mac a kiss. Slightly startled, but relishing it, Mac leaned over and responded by pull- ing Harm's face down for a more passionate one. "OK, ok...We're leavin'..." was Animal's reply. Mac whispered,"You be careful, flyboy..." Her affectionate look to Harm was enough to send Harm into orbit. Harm grinned,"I'll be careful." He saluted Mac as she gave him a salute. "C'mon, Harm, we're burnin' daylight here..." Animal growled. "Roger, that, sir..." Harm grinned at him as the two of them grinned back at the two who cared for them most. "I feel the need..." Animal started... "The need..." Harm grinned. "FOR SPEED!!!" They both shouted as they slapped double high-fives. Maverick yelled from his aircraft,"HEY...THAT'S MY LINE!!!" "HOO-HAH!!!" Harm yelled, he felt like a kid in a candy store as he and Animal headed for their respective aircraft. Meg gave Mac a look,"Boys will be boys, won't they?" She looked affectionately towards her husband who was mounting his F-14 after doing a quick walk-around and checking all the connections on the stores mounted on the wing and fuselage pylons. "Yes, they sure will, but you have to love them for it. They are irresistable..." Mac said reflectively looking over at Harm's aircraft where Harm was just settling into his seat and putting his helmet on. Kimber was settling into her aircraft along with Snort, and shot a thumbs up over at Sandy, Meg and Mac who were standing at the edge of the tarmac. The whine of the engines was loud in the morning calm, but to them it was the sound of freedom. Fast Eagle 111 Harm & Tag 1000 ZULU UTC 0500 EST "Tag, how ya doing back there?" Harm asked as he set about starting the big fighter. "Flippin' switches and having a grand old time, here, Commander..." "Call me Zapper, it was my old callsign..." Harm replied. "OK, Zapper, you up for it today?" "We'll find that out, won't we." Harm replied. "Good..." was his RIO's reply. "Fast Eagle one-eleven, Engine start...we've got two-turnin' and two burnin'" Harm radioed. "Roger that...Is your nose cold?" "Roger..." That meant that his radar was off. One didn't want to fry the guys who were working around the aircraft. "OK, Let's go..." Animal's aircraft trundled forward from it's parking spot and taxied towards the runway. Maverick's aircraft followed in second. Metalman's aircraft followed right after that, Iceman and Kimber followed, and then finally, Harm guided his Tomcat towards that long strip of concrete, that would function as the long roll-out to get airborne. One by one, the F-14s began taking off. Fast Eagle 212 Animal & Scooter "Tower, this is Fast Eagle 212, we have a live fire strike exercise in sector Alpha Zulu Bravo, departure clearance...vector to Charlie range..." "Roger that, Fast Eagle 212...have a good flight..." Animal thrust the throttles full-forward as he released the brakes. The F-14 leapt forward with a jolt that resembled two high-powered kicks to the small of the back. As the runway lessened, Animal pulled back on the stick and the F-14 departed the ground. "Gear up and locked," Scooter said,"We have a vector, 290 for bandit." "Roger that...how far out?" "120 miles...north east..." "How close is it to international waters?" "We've got lead time of three-zero, we calculate an overhead of 15," "OK..." As the rest of the squadron formed up on his wings,"Split into elements..." The six aircraft split into three groups of two aircraft as planned originally. "Element two break off to a heading of 239 degrees, Element three, break left on a heading of 127 degrees. Our element goes in first." Animal ordered. Harm and Ice split off on a heading of 127 degrees, and Kimber and Metalman split off 239 degrees. They would meet up over the target. "OK, Mav, keep your head on a swivel...Could get unfriendly real quickly." "I've got it. Dead ahead...290 degrees low and steaming at about 20 knots. Fast bugger, ain't it?" Maverick replied. "You paint amidships..." Animal replied as he rolled his aircraft over, and set to go into a dive."I'm gonna plant 2 of my GBU-10s right down the center-line..." "God, I hate strike..." muttered Scooter from the backseat..."My balls end up in my throat..." "Save it..." Animal snapped as he aimed the bombsight directly down the center of the ship. "We're at Angels 8..." Scooter yelled out. The air exploded around them with puffs of anti-aircraft fire..."Holy shit...what a welcome!!!" shouted Animal as he started jinking, "Damn, these buggers are good...Hang on..." The F-14 bucked at a close by explosion. "Nose on target...Dropping 1, Dropping 2..." The F-14 jerked as the two GBU-10s, now released, headed on their invisibly guided trajectory guided by Maverick's painted dot on their hull. "Pull up...baby..." Animal felt the nose lift as he started into an intricate jinking maneuver aimed at throwing off the the aim of the anti aircraft gunners on the ship. "HOLY SHIT, we got secondaries...Man, oh, man!!!" Scooter yelled as he did the 'Linda Blair' against the G-forces trying to look back at the target. "You are the Strike God...Animal..." Maverick made his run while Animal painted. Another two down the center line caused the ship to come to a halt. Two gaping holes were blown in the hull. Harm's F-14 dropped all four of his GBU-10s on the bridge. That got an explosion rolling out of the bridge. When the strike was over the freighter was listing and just about ready to sink. Animal dropped his last two GBU-10s and the freighter blew up and sank. Just then, Harm reported an alarming bit of news,"Animal, we got contacts coming in..." "Shit, what the hell?" Animal replied. "They're fast-movers..." Harm replied. "Where the hell did they come from?" "MiGs?" "No...F-16s." "Aw...damn...West Virgina Air National Guard..." Animal muttered as he looked over at the incoming F-15s. "This is Fast Eagle 101, no play-time today...We're carrying live..." Animal radioed. "Bombing practice, Navy? I thought you guys were strictly air-air..." "We learn...Air Farce..." Animal rejoindered..."We learn quickly." "So, what you guys take out?" The air force F-16 radioed. "We just took care of a target tanker...nothing much..." Maverick responded. "See ya..." "Too bad, Navy pukes...next time..." "Hey, are those training wheels we see on those Falcons?" Metalman asked facetiously. "We're gonna kick your tails, Navy..." was the rejoinder. "You and what Army...Air Farce..." was Metalman's reply. CIA MORGUE 1045 ZULU UTC 0545 EST The mortician looked at the body of the rogue DSD agent. Well, it looked as if Palmer was dead officially. He turned to grab a scalpel. When he turned back, the body had a back-up pistol pointed directly in his face. "Y-y-you were dead...I felt no heartbeat..." the mortician gasped. "I just drugged myself..." Palmer said as he pointed the gun between the man's eyes. "You stitch me up and you will help me get out of this place. Is there an exit out of here?" "Y-y-yes." "Now, hurry, quickly...before the sensors are alerted to my presence." NAS OCEANA 1100 ZULU UTC 0600 EST "Harm..." Mac shouted at Harm as he deplaned,"Hey, you...you're back ..." Harm grinned that sloppy grin that she loved so much. "I said I'd be back..." Harm grinned. She enveloped him in a hug that sent him into overdrive. Their lips met each other's hungrily. Meg grinned at the both of them..."I guess they finally came to their senses..." "What senses..." said a voice right next to her. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw her husband standing right beside her, his lazy flyboy grin looking over at her. "Hey, you..." Meg murmured as she gave him a passionate kiss. Animal's hand found his way to her belly...and she gave him a light slap on the back of the hand. "Hey, not in public..." "Just checking to see if the family had awakened yet." He grinned sheepishly as he kissed her again. NAS OCEANA TARMAC 1100 ZULU UTC 0600 EST "Clay, are you sure, that this is the end of it?" Sandy said looking over at him. "I don't know. Sandy, It appears to be, but nothing is certain." "I was talking with Meg...and she said that the NIS division works a lot with the CIA..." Sandy smiled at Clay, who raised an eyebrow. "I've been thinking about a transfer...JAG is fun, but, I seem to like this intelli- gence gathering aspect more and I think the NIS will be a good fit for me." "Hmmm, sounds good..." Webb replied,"I can't confirm or deny that I work for the Firm, but I'll give you a hint...if you do switch, you may see a lot more of me...around." Sandy smiled as she looked over at Clay's handsome face. "Well, then, give me until the end of the week and I'll hand my transfer papers to Cheg- widden." "Are you doing this, just so that you can get the benefit of intel- gathering or are you doing this just to see more of me..." "We'll see...Mr. Webb..." Sandy smiled an enigmatic smile at Clayton Webb,"We'll see..." as she turned to walk away. 'Well, we'll definitely see about that, won't we...Lieutenant Martinez.' Webb grinned to himself as he watched her walk away. There was something in that gait that was very attractive to the eye. About fifteen minutes later Webb's cellular phone rang. He listened to the message,"You're KID- DING? He was dead...not breathing..." "Well, he's escaped now!!!" "Oh, damn!!!" Webb swore,"SHIT!!!" This was not good. "What isn't good?" Animal said curiously as the Special Asst. to the Undersecretary of State looked frustrated. "Palmer..." "Palmer's dead..." Harm said. "We saw him die..." "He just drugged himself to make himself look as if he was dead." Webb growled."He was only wounded..." "Where is he now..." Mac asked concerned. Webb sighed running his fingers through his hair,"He's under deep cover now...No telling when he's going to surface." "Great..." Animal said sourly. "Maybe that's what he wants. For us to live in fear while he's out there somewhere just biding his time..." Meg said."If he's wounded, he won't be making a move anytime soon." SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE A figure stood there in his cabin. The wound wasn't so painful when as when it was inflicted. It only hurt when he inhaled. Looking over his options he pondered. It would take a while. He'd wait until he was ready. "Rabb, Mackenzie, Chikamori, Austin, WEBB...you will pay..." he muttered to himself as he looked over each of their pictures. He knew that one day he would get them back for what they did to his plans. His plans of becoming a wealthy ex-spy. Palmer laughed to himself. Let them wait in fear. Revenge was a dish best served cold... ***********THE END************* Author's note: Let me know how you liked it. FEEDBACK. :)